1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns treatment of spinal abnormalities by the use of implants or prostheses, and a procedure and system for placing the implants or prostheses.
2. Discussion of the Known Art
Surgeons and clinical practitioners use radiographic tools such as MRI scans and X-rays along with their experience and intuition to evaluate if a patient's spine is within a so-called “normal” configuration. If not, the surgeon decides how much restoration or positional variance must be imparted to the spine in order to eliminate or reduce back pain using procedures such as, e.g., spinal fusion or disc replacement. Because any given surgeon's intuition is usually based on his or her training and the fellowship program he or she completed, the current practice of evaluating a patient's spine and identifying implant devices to treat suspected abnormalities is subject to uncertainties and often results in patient outcomes that vary widely.
Further, in addition to being concerned only with a “normal” range of spinal configurations, practitioners today are also concerned with identifying any static positions that may cause the patient to experience pain. For example, a patient may have a normal range of motion but still feel pain at one or more positions within range. Moreover, pain alone cannot be detected by way of a patient x-ray or scan.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,693 (Mar. 23, 2004) discloses a method and device for positioning a patient during MRI imaging diagnosis. The patient lies supine on a platform with their legs extended and feet in contact with a footrest, and a harness is worn above the area of the spine to be compressed and imaged. A pair of straps fixed to the harness pull the harness toward the footrest, thereby compressing and flexing the patient's spine as desired for imaging. U.S. Pat. No. 6,860,272 (Mar. 1, 2005) and U.S. Pat. Appl'n Pub. No. 2005/0165293 (Jul. 28, 2005) relate to a device having an adjustable footplate for immobilizing a patient and compressing the patient's skeleton, joints, and/or spine during imaging.
U.S. Pat. Appl'n Pub. No. 2005/0177239 (Aug. 11, 2005) discloses a method and apparatus for computerized spinal surgery with an implant device having an inflatable cavity for placement between end plates of adjacent vertebra. The publication also discloses a surgical procedure wherein the patient is mounted on a support table, a region of the patient's spine is imaged, a 3-D image file of the region is obtained and stored, and the file is used for planning and carrying out computer-controlled implant surgery. See pars. [0147-48] and [0995-98], and FIGS. 42 & 43 of the '239 publication.
As far as is known, however, no procedure or system has been proposed wherein an affected level of a patient's spine is scanned while the patient assumes a position of greatest pain or discomfort, and the same level is scanned again after the patient assumes a position of greatest comfort, and wherein the difference between the two positions is quantified to allow an implant device to be identified for maintaining the patient's comfort when the device is placed at the scanned level.